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“What separates masters from others is often something surprisingly simple. Whenever we learn a skill, we frequently reach a point of frustration — what we are learning seems beyond our capabilities. Giving in to these feelings, we unconsciously quit on ourselves before we actually give up…

“The difference is not simply a matter of determination, but more of trust and faith. Many of those who succeed in life have had the experience in their youth of having mastered some skill — a sport or game, a musical instrument, a foreign language, and so on. Buried in their minds is the sensation of overcoming their frustrations and entering a cycle of accelerated returns. In moments of doubt in the present, the memory of the past experience rises to the surface. Filled with trust in the process, they trudge on well past the point at which others slow down or mentally quit.

“When it comes to mastering a skill, time is the magic ingredient. Assuming your practice proceeds at a steady level, over days and weeks certain elements of the skill become hardwired. Slowly, the entire skill becomes internalized, part of your nervous system. The mind is no longer mired in the details, but can see the larger picture. It is a miraculous sensation and practice will lead you to that point, no matter the talent level you are born with.

“The only real impediment to this is yourself and your emotions — boredom, panic, frustration, insecurity. You cannot suppress such emotions — they are normal to the process and are experienced by everyone, including Masters. What you can do is have faith in the process. The boredom will go away once you enter the cycle. The panic disappears after repeated exposure. The frustration is a sign of progress — a signal that your mind is processing complexity and requires more practice. The insecurities will transform into their opposites when you gain mastery. Trusting this will all happen, you will allow the natural learning process to move forward, and everything else will fall into place.”

- Robert Greene, Mastery

JS Comment:

I have a small framed version of this despair.com poster near my desk:

It’s a sarcastic play on a famous quote from Andre Gide: “To discover new lands, one must be willing to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”

So true… and challenging. Uncertainty, plus fear, plus a sense of endless grind in the hard stretches, makes for a seriously daunting combo.

But that is precisely what the path to mastery offers up: A chance to throw in the towel at mile 18 of the marathon… or give up in despair at yet another roadblock… or otherwise tap out before the finish line.